Unforgettable

Brad Williams has hyperthymesia. That means he can pit his astonishingly detailed memory against Google and Wikipedia combined -- and win.

Brad Williams is one of the few known cases of hyperthymesia, an extremely detailed form of autobiographical memory for events both global and personal, monumental and trivial. This video series, by his filmmaker brother Eric Williams, provides an intimate and funny portrait of a unique individual who can recall the minutiae of almost any day within his lifetime:

What he ate for breakfast. Whether it rained or snowed. What was on TV that night.

Mention the date May 15, 1972, and Brad will tell you it was the day Governor George Wallace was shot by an attempted assassin. Oh, and he played tennis in gym class that day. And, if you’re really curious, he’ll tell you it was a Monday.

Dubbed “the Human Google” by “Good Morning America,” Brad is only the second person ever studied by neurologists for the newly-identified syndrome called “hyperthymesia.”

As part of a feature-length work-in-progress, Eric Williams has posted a series of three shorter stand-alone videos that individually and collectively document his brother’s travels as his rare mental gifts vault him from small-town anonymity to sudden mid-life notoriety.

A radio newsman used to covering stories, Brad now finds himself becoming the story, trailed by newspaper reporters and video crews, in demand by college professors and “Morning Zoos.”

His quirky talent which Brad always felt had “no practical value” – which couldn’t even bring him victory on “Jeopardy!” – suddenly exposes him to opportunities he could never have imagined.

From network TV appearances and memorable personal encounters with such notables as famed neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks, memory expert and author Harry Lorayne, and television legend Dick Cavett, to a head-to-head trivia match against “Jeopardy!” uber-champion, Ken Jennings. From addressing the colorful crowd of brainiacs at a Mensa convention, to a man-versus-machine contest to determine which is faster: Brad’s brain or the internet.

In short, a story about a guy you’ll long remember!

MOVIE TRAILER: 3:41

BRAD vs. THE INTERNET (9:53): Shades of John Henry and the steam drill, as Brad battles Google and the entire internet (assisted by a librarian) to answer 20 questions in the least amount of time.(Spoiler alert: Brad wins.)

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED (5:54): Brad recounts a memorable day — in amazing detail: March 28, 1969.